Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, right, looks at injured player Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, center, as she is tended to by assistant athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle, left, Team Physician Dr. Thomas Trojian, top center, and student athletic trainer Lauren Sheldon, second from right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013, in Storrs, Conn. Mosqueda-Lewis left the game with an injury to her right elbow. Connecticut won 76-57. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

STORRS – The UConn women’s basketball endured a very scary moment during its 76-57 victory over Stanford at Gampel Pavilion Monday night as junior All-American Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis injured her right arm and elbow one minute, 52 seconds into the second half.

The extent of the injury is unknown. She was lying on the court for several minutes writhing in pain and screaming out loudly enough to be heard over the crowd initially before everyone in the arena quieted. After being examined by the Huskies’ medical staff, she was helped from the court by athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle and led directly to the trainer’s room.

Coach Geno Auriemma said after the game that he’s not sure how badly either the arm or the elbow were hurt, and he wasn’t about to speculate other than to say he wouldn’t expect her to play this weekend. She left the arena with her arm in a sling after the game was over, and she is scheduled to have an MRI on her arm today.

As Mosqueda-Lewis grabbed a defensive rebound, Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike fell to the floor near the feet of the UConn forward. Mosqueda-Lewis tried to avoid stepping on Ogwumike and in the process fell forward awkwardly. She hit the ground first with the palm of her right hand but she fell so hard that her elbow hit hard onto the court.

“In that moment it was kind of scary just the way she reacted,” Bria Hartley said. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that before. So when I was talking, me and Stef (Dolson) were kind of like shaking just the way she was screaming. I’m kind of scared for her and what happened. Hopefully, she’s going to be alright and we just want to pray for her safe recovery.”

While lying on the ground, Mosqueda-Lewis was crying out loud, asking for help and kicking her feel in agony as she held onto her right elbow.

The team had to regroup quickly. The Huskies were leading, 41-26, at the time of the injury thanks in part to nine points from Mosqueda-Lewis including a 3-pointer at the end of the first half, but it was a difficult situation.

“It was ‘Oh my gosh, I hope she is OK,’” Stokes said. “You always hope for the best, but you never know. The coaches told us, ‘She is being taken care of. We have to go out and finish this game.’ I think we did a pretty good job of that. We still don’t know how she is. We are praying for her and hoping for the best.”

Auriemma said it is hard to tell based just on Mosqueda-Lewis’ reaction just how severe the injury is.

“Some people just scream and yell like they’ve just got run over by a car, and then it turns out that it’s nothing,” Auriemma said. “Because mostly they’re panicking. They’re scared. That’s why they cry and scream and yell and you look at their face and they’re like in shock because they’re scared to death.”

He said it is so difficult to know, because he also remembers running a 3-on-2 drill in practice one day when Sue Bird said she felt something in her knee. He asked her if she was alright, and she told him she was fine and kept practicing. It turns out she had torn the ACL in her knee.

“So sometimes it’s confusing because everybody reacts differently to what happens,” Auriemma said. “Some minor things hurt like hell, and some major things don’t hurt at all. I’ve kind of learned to just wait and let it go and wait for them to stop hyperventilating because it hurts and just wait until the doctors and Rosemary tell me what’s going on.”

Hartley said that she was able to talk to Mosqueda-Lewis briefly after the game, and that was at least a little bit encouraging.

“She just said that it is probably one of the most painful things she has felt, but she said she is going to be alright,” Hartley said. “I wasn’t able to get much. I just want to pray for a healthy recovery for her. Hopefully she is not out too long. We don’t really know what the diagnosis is.”

Losing Mosqueda-Lewis for any length of time would be a big blow for the team. She not only led the team in scoring last season at 17.6 points per game, but she was the Huskies’ most efficient player. She led the nation in 3-point shooting at 49.2 percent and shot 52.8 percent overall from the field. She also averaged the third-highest rebounds with 6.2 per game, was second on the team with 57 steals and had 89 assists.

Auriemma said it is difficult to watch Mosqueda-Lewis suffer in so much pain, both because she is such a nice kid and because the team needs her.

“From my standpoint, we are playing with our fingers crossed the entire season,” Auriemma said. “So anything that we see that looks like that is kind of disheartening a little bit.”

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.